Say hello to James

Account Director

James Ballinger has 14 years of agency experience, working on a range of retail brands. Having started life in media planning before moving into account management, James has a strong grasp of the omnichannel environment retailers have to operate in. During his time at SASS, he worked with Arighi Bianchi, before moving to Clear Marketing to work with Thomas Cook and CALA Homes. Specialising in branding, advertising and in-store marketing, James loves to come up with ways to improve his clients’ marketing strategies and advertising activity.

JAMES’ FAVOURITE BRAND:“Under Armour specialise in performance clothing. They have a bold vision matched by a seriously brave strategy. Signing-up a host of sport stars early on in their career who are now at the top of their sport (Jordan Spieth, Steph Curry, Michael Phelps and Anthony Joshua), they’ve made a serious dent in Adidas and Nike’s dominance of the sport and fitness category. Their advertising is striking and memorable and the clothing has the right mix of technical excellence and style to boot.”

JAMES’ FAVOURITE RETAILER:“Finisterre (finisterre.com). Okay, not that local (they are based in St Ives), but Finisterre is a manufacturer and retailer of innovative clothing intended for use by cold-water surfers. The brand prides itself on using responsibly sourced fabrics and there is a real no-frills, honest approach to the thinking behind the designs and purpose of each piece of clothing. You can sense the passion for what the business stands for and the coats in particular are incredibly lightweight, warm and well-made. I’ve no doubt the in store experience would be a good one; shame they are all by the sea (and in London, obviously).”

JAMES’ FAVOURITE BEHAVIOURAL THEORY IS…“Chunking because:
a) I like to keep things simple for me and others
b) I’m more engaged by manageable amounts of information
c) I remember things in groups of three”